W.

[Christopher Fry's ownership inscription to his copy of a first edition by W. H. Auden.] Nones.

Author: 
W. H. Auden [Christopher Fry]
Publication details: 
London: Faber and Faber, 1952.
£25.00

72pp, 8vo. Tight copy on lightly-aged paper, in original blue cloth binding with dulled gilt on spine, panels of sunning to front board, and slight wear at head of spine. Ownership inscription on front free endpaper: 'Christopher Fry'. Auden, along with Eliot, was an inspiration to Fry, one of the foremost twentieth-century English practitioners of verse drama.

[Peter Opie, folklorist, with wife Iona Opie, of children's games and nursery rhymes.] Two Typed Letters Signed to W. J. MacQueen-Pope, on the music hall, John Dunn and 'Jump Jim Crow', the Great Macdermott and 'Jeremiah, blow the fire'.

Author: 
Peter Opie (1918-1982), folklorist who, with his wife Iona Opie (1923-2017), worked on children's games and literature, donating their collection to the Bodleian [W. J. MacQueen-Pope (1888-1960)]
Publication details: 
Opie's two letters on letterhead of 'IONA OPIE | PETER OPIE', Rockbourne House, 100 High Street, Alton, Hampshire. 20 and 25 January 1951. With carbon copy of a reply from MacQueen-Pope, 23 January 1951.
£150.00

The three items (two letters from Peter Opie to MacQueen-Pope and carbon copy of his reply to the first of these) are in fair condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper, with a slight nick at the head of the first letter. Inspired by the recent publication of MP's 'The Melody Lingers On: The Story of Music Hall' (1950), Opie writes to MP via his publishers W. H. Allen & Co, and signs both letters 'Peter Opie.' MP writes to Opie at Rockbourne House. ONE: TLS from Opie to MP. 20 January 1951. 1p, 4to.

[Robert Donat, film and stage actor.] Typed Letter Signed ('Robert.') to 'Popie', i.e. the theatre historian W. J. MacQueen-Pope, regarding his article 'Children's Theatre | Sound'.

Author: 
Robert Donat [Friedrich Robert Donat] (1905-1958), English film and stage actor, whose films included 'The 39 Steps' and 'Goodbye Mr. Chips' [W. J. MacQueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
30 October 1946. On his letterhead, 23 Three Kings Yard, London, W1.
£45.00

1p, 8vo. On aged and worn paper, with spots of rust staining from paperclip. Folded twice. Addressed to MP at 359 Strand, WC2. Reads: 'Dear Popie, | Children's Theatre | Sound | This is just to acknowledge your rough draft of the article you suggest. I have not had time to look at it yet, but I will do so as soon as I possibly can. Meanwhile, perhaps your secretary will let my secretary know the latest date for returning it.' MP's reason for sending the article to Donat is not immediately apparent. Donat's papers are in the University of Manchester Special Collections.

[Sir Edward Marsh, Winston Churchill's friend and private secretary, classical scholar, patron of Georgian poetry.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Eddie Marsh') to W. J. MacQueen-Pope, praising his biography of his friend Ivor Novello. With copy of reply.

Author: 
Sir Edward Marsh [Sir Edward Howard Marsh] (1872-1953), civil servant, promoter of Georgian poetry, classical scholar, friend and secretary to Winston Churchill [W. J. MacQueen-Pope; Ivor Novello]
Publication details: 
Marsh's letter 19 November 1951; 86 Walton Street, SW3 [London]. Copy of MacQueen-Pope's reply: 21 November 1951; 359 Strand, WC2.
£150.00

ONE: Marsh to MP. 19 November 1951. 2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with light rust spotting from paper clip. Folded twice. Pencil note by MP. Marsh begins his letter: 'My dear Popie. | Very many thanks indeed for the book. It came on Saturday, & I read nothing else till I finished it this morning. Very many congratulations too, your Achievement story is itself a big achievement, & everyone who loved Ivor will be grateful to you for it. You can imagine how many memories it revived in me, & how much it added to my Knowledge.

[Dodie Smith, children's writer, author of 'The Hundred and One Dalamatians'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Dodie') to 'Popie' [the theatre historian W. J. MacQueen-Pope], praising his writing, theatre work and latest book, discussing Vivien Leigh.

Author: 
Dodie Smith [Dorothy Gladys Smith] (1896-1990), children's writer and playwright, author of 'The Hundred and One Dalmatians' (1956) and 'I Capture the Castle' (1948) [W. J. MacQueen-Pope (1888-1960)]
Publication details: 
5 March 1958. On letterhead of The Barretts, Finchingfield, Essex.
£150.00

2pp, 18mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded once. Written in a close, elegant hand. Written on receipt of a presentation copy of MacQueen-Pope's latest book, the letter begins: 'My dear Popie, | Thank you so very much for St James's, Theatre of Distinction. I think I am enjoying it even more than I usually enjoy your individual-theatre books, because the St James's meant so much to me. It was the first London theatre I ever went to - long before I could read or went to a school.

[Noel Streatfeild, children's writer and author.] Typed Letter Signed to W. J. MacQueen-Pope - 'the horse's mouth as regards theatre history' - with queries for her 'book on ballet' relating to theatres in the Haymarket.

Author: 
Noel Streatfeild [Mary Noel Streatfeild] (1895-1986), children's writer and author [W. J. MacQueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
24 January 1958. On letterhead of 51A Elizabeth Street, Eaton Square, SW1 [London].
£65.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, on aged and creased paper. The letter begins: 'Dear Mr. MacQueen Pope, | Please forgive me for bothering you, but you are I know, the horse's mouth as regards theatre history.' She explains that she is 'in the throes of a book on ballet' for her publishers William Collins, and she asks him to help her with 'a problem in the section on early ballet in England'. The problem concerns 'the King's Theatre Haymarket' and 'the Italian Opera House'. She gives a facts and dates, asking 'was it all one and the same theatre?

[Christopher Fry: BBC Schools talk on 'A Sleep of Prisoners', with reading.] Copy of typescript of BBC Home Service (Schools) talk and reading headed 'Religion and Philosophy | 9. A Play for a Church | by | Christopher Fry'.

Author: 
Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright, with Auden and Eliot a leading exponent of twentieth-century verse drama [BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation], Bush House, London]
Publication details: 
TRANSMISSION: BBC HOME SERVICE (SCHOOLS) [Bush House, London] | Monday 29th June 1953: 9.40 - 10.00 a.m.
£220.00

Contemporary duplicated typescript, from the Christopher Fry papers. 14pp, 8vo. Each page on a separate leaf. In fair condition, lightly aged. Fry's introductory talk is present in its entirety on pp.1-5, this is followed by an unpaginated page, then pp.8-15 with p.[10] also unpaginated. Hence p.6 or p.7, beginning the extracts from the play, would appear to be absent. On the front page, between the heading and transmission details is: 'Rehearsal: Thursday 4th June 1953: 10.00 onwards | Recording: Thursday 4th June 1953: 12.15 - 1.00 p.m. 3A | Recording of Insert: [BLANK]'.

['John William Calcraft' (stage name of John William Cole), actor and lessee of the Theatre Royal, Dublin.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'J. W. Calcraft'), regarding debts and plans for productions.

Author: 
'John William Calcraft' [stage name of John William Cole (c.1793-1870)], actor, dramatist and lessee of the Theatre Royal, Dublin
Publication details: 
4 March 1847 and 31 January 1848. Both from the Theatre Royal, Dublin.
£45.00

Both letters 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Cole's handwriting is difficult. The recipient is not named. The first letter, 34 lines long, concerns a bill which Cole has drawn on the recipient of the letter. It is coming due, and he is uncertain whether it is for £90 or £100. He asks him to withhold payment for a while, as 'Lent is always a dead time with me'. He is 'going to try the experiment of Mr Butter for 6 nights', and has 'good hopes of the result'. The second letter begins: 'My dear Sir | I have made most liberal offers to Farren, Mrs. Nesbitt & Mr.

['John William Calcraft' (stage name of John William Cole), actor and lessee of the Theatre Royal, Dublin.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'J. W. Calcraft'), regarding debts and plans for productions.

Author: 
'John William Calcraft' [stage name of John William Cole (c.1793-1870)], actor, dramatist and lessee of the Theatre Royal, Dublin
Publication details: 
4 March 1847 and 31 January 1848. Both from the Theatre Royal, Dublin.
£45.00

Both letters 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Cole's handwriting is difficult. The recipient is not named. The first letter, 34 lines long, concerns a bill which Cole has drawn on the recipient of the letter. It is coming due, and he is uncertain whether it is for £90 or £100. He asks him to withhold payment for a while, as 'Lent is always a dead time with me'. He is 'going to try the experiment of Mr Butter for 6 nights', and has 'good hopes of the result'. The second letter begins: 'My dear Sir | I have made most liberal offers to Farren, Mrs. Nesbitt & Mr.

[W. B. Yeats, Annie Horniman, and the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.] Manuscript Letter by Yeats, signed by him but written out by Horniman as his secretary, declining to provide work for publication, as he is 'writing plays for our little Irish Theatre'.

Author: 
W. B. Yeats [William Butler Yeats], Irish poet, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature [Annie Horniman [Annie Elizabeth Fredericka Horniman] (1860-1937), patron of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin]
Publication details: 
11 May 1903; 18 Woburn Buildings, Euston Road, London.
£1,000.00

Written at a crucial time in the run-up to the foundation of the Abbey Theatre. As Horniman's entry in the Oxford DNB states: 'In 1903 Yeats lured Annie to Dublin where he hoped her backing for productions by the Irish Literary Theatre would bring more of his poetic dramas to the stage. To her delight Yeats invited her to design his play The King's Threshold. Annie soon realized she was administrator rather than artist, and the atmosphere of an amateur company directed by three playwrights—Yeats, Lady Gregory, and J. M. Synge—was never congenial.

['Max O'Rell' [Léon Paul Blouet], French author and journalist.] Cabinet Card photographic portrait by Taber of San Francisco, signed 'Max O'Rell'; with Autograph Letter Signed to his lecture agent E. W. Appleton, regarding fees.

Author: 
'Max O'Rell' [Léon Paul Blouet] (1847-1903), French author and journalist who wrote in English for British and American markets, crossed swords with Mark Twain [E. W. Appleton; Taber of San Francisco]
Publication details: 
Letter to Appleton: 14 December 1885; 2 Lime Grove, Uxbridge Road, W. [London] Cabinet Card by Taber, 8 Montgomery Street, 'opposite the Palace and Grand Hotels', San Francisco; undated.
£120.00

ONE: Cabinet Card: 13.5 x 10 cm photographic head-and-shoulders portrait of Blouet, smartly-dressed with glasses and handlebar moustache, mounted on 16.5 x 10.5 cm card, with printed details of the photographers Taber's printed in gold below the image, and an elaborate advertisement for the firm printed in brown on the reverse. In fair condition, lightly aged. Inscribed on the base of the print: 'Yours Sincerely | Max O'Rell'. TWO: Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Appleton', i.e. E. W. Appleton. 1p, 12mo. On bifolium. 14 December 1885; 2 Lime Grove, Uxbridge Road, W.

[Spelling Bee competitions in Victorian Kennington and Guildford.] Eleven items, including an advertisement, a programme, tickets of entry and competitor's ticket, newspaper cuttings, compiled by T. W. Williams, manager of Kennington competitions.

Author: 
Spelling Bee competitions in Victorian Kennington and Guildford [T. W. Williams, manager; The Impartial Spelling Bee Association, Williams & Rhodes, Kennington; F. Ridgway; J. Irving Dixon]
Publication details: 
Competitions in Kennington and Guildford, 1876. Manager of Kennington competitions: 'Mr. T. W. Williams, 149, Lower Kennington Lane, S.E.'
£220.00

The eleven items are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, laid down on two heavily-worn leaves removed from an album. An interesting slice of social history, relating to introduction into England of a phenomenon which began in the Unites States in the 1850s. Nine of the items relate to spelling bees in Kennington, managed by the compiler of the material T. W. Williams, and one to a 'Grand Spelling Bee' in Guildford.

[Eliot School Rebellion, Boston, 1859.] The Bible and our School System. The Arguments in the Case of the Eliot School Rebellion, by Henry F. Durant for the Defence, and Sidney Webster for the Prosecution.

Author: 
[Eliot School Rebellion, Boston, 1859] Henry F. Durant [Henry Fowle Durrant (1822-1881)] and Sidney Webster, attorneys; Howard W. Swett, publisher; William White, printer
Publication details: 
Boston: Hubbard W. Swett & Co., 128 Washington Street. 1859. [William White, Printer, 4 Spring Lane.]
£250.00

The 'Rebellion' was precipitated by the whipping of Thomas J. Whall, a Catholic boy at the Eliot School, for refusing to recite the ten commandments in the Protestant King James translation. It resulted in the creation of nationwide Catholic parochial schools. 29pp, 8vo. Saddle-stitched pamphlet with uncut edges and without wraps. On aged and worn paper. In double column and small print. A transcript of the closing arguments in the case, without editorial interpolation. Scarce. No other copy traced of original edition.

[Arthur Holmes, geologist, and Robert W. Lawson, Einstein's English translator.] Offprint, inscribed by the authors to Prof. C. G. Curtis: 'Lead and the End Product of Thorium. (Part II.)'

Author: 
Arthur Holmes, A.R.C.S., B.Sc., F.G.S., Imperial College, London, and Robert W. Lawson, M.Sc., Radium Institute, Vienna
Publication details: 
'From the Philosophical Magazine [London], vol. xxix. May 1915.'
£120.00

16pp, 8vo, paginated 673-688. Stitched into brown wraps, with typed white label on front cover. At the head of the front cover, in manuscript: 'II | Prof C. G. Curtis | With the Authors' Compliments.' The offprint in good condition, on lightly aged paper, the brown wraps aged and chipped, with small of back wrap torn away at rear. The only other copy of this offprint on OCLC WorldCat at Durham University.

[Gladstone PM Library; Samuel Rogers, 'the Banker Poet', inscribes a volume of his poems, with proof engravings by Finden and Goodall from Turner & Stothard, to 'his friend' William Ewart Gladstone.] Poems by Samuel Rogers.

Author: 
Samuel Rogers ('The Banker Poet'); J. M. W. Turner; Thomas Stothard; William Finden; Edward Goodall; Thomas Cadell and Edward Moxon, London publishers [William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal Prime Minister]
Publication details: 
London: Printed for T. Cadell, Strand; and E. Moxon, Dover-street. 1834.
£150.00

viii + 296pp, 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and spotted paper, with slight damp staining along bottom edge. In contemporary green crushed morocco binding, with gilt decoration to the edges of the inside covers, all edges gilt, rebacked and with new endpapers. Inscribed by Rogers on flyleaf: 'To W. E. Gladstone | from his friend, the Author.' Beneath this Gladstone has added in pencil: 'June 1838'. The volume contains a handful of light annotatory marks in pencil, no doubt also by Gladstone.

[Christopher Fry's copy of W. H. Auden's first published book, with Fry's ownership inscription dated to the year of publication.] Poems.

Author: 
W. H. Auden; Christopher Fry
Publication details: 
London: Faber & Faber, 24 Russell Square. 1930.
£650.00

In folding box, dark blue, gt. 79pp, 8vo. In plain white card wraps, in blue dustwrapper printed in black, with red border to cover. Ownership inscription in blue ink on front free endpaper: 'Christopher Fry | 1930'. Hardly the best of copies, but a good association between two of the three giants of the twentieth-century English verse play (Eliot being the other). Internally tight, on lightly-aged paper, in aged and worn wraps. The dustwrapper is in poor condition, stained, chipped, and separated into several loose parts along the folds, with spine and back cover tipped-in onto the wraps.

[William Hurrell Mallock, novelist and economist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. H. Mallock.') to 'L[ad]y Virginia', praising her novel, which he 'did not willingly put [...] down for an instant'.

Author: 
W. H. Mallock [William Hurrell Mallock] (1849-1923), novelist and conservative economist
Publication details: 
7 May 1887. On letterhead of Bornhill, Bramford Speke, Exeter.
£45.00

2pp, 12mo. On grey paper with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. The indentity of the recipient is unclear. The letter begins: 'Dear Ly Virginia | The other day I bought your novel, & the first comfortable leisure moment I had, I began to read it.

[John William Donaldson, philologist, classicist, and biblical scholar.] Autograph Memorandum, signed 'J. W. Donaldson', giving four 'reasons' why 'Hercules was the husband & not the purchased slave of Omphale'.

Author: 
J. W. Donaldson [John William Donaldson] (1811-1861), philologist., classicist and biblical scholar [Sir Thomas Gery Cullum (1777-1855) of Hardwick House and his wife Lady Ann Cullum (1807-1875)]
Publication details: 
No place [King Edward's School, Bury St Edmunds]. 2 April 1844.
£56.00

See Donaldson's entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that he was 'greatly beloved by his friends, who included N. C. Thirlwall and W. H. Thompson. The diarist Henry Crabb Robinson spoke enthusiastically of the charm of his conversation.' 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. No salutation or valediction, and the recipient is not named, but the item derives from the papers of Sir Thomas Gery Cullum and his wife Lady Anne Cullum, of Hardwick House.

[Loeb Classical Library prospectus.] Machines or Mind? An Introduction to the Loeb Classical Library | By W. H. D. Rouse, Litt.D.

Author: 
W. H. D. Rouse, Litt.D. [William Henry Denham Rouse (1864-1950), founding editor with T. E. Page of the Loeb Classical Library; William Heinemann, London publisher]
Publication details: 
London: William Heinemann, 21 Bedford Street. New York: The Macmillan Company, 64-66 Fifth Avenue. Advertising volumes 'ready in September' and 'ready in November' [1911].
£180.00

16pp, 8vo. Stapled pamphlet. In fair condition, lightly aged, covers dusty and spotted, staples slightly rusted. P.2 carries an announcement of the joint publication by 'Mr. Heinemann' and the Macmillan Company of New York 'of a new series of Greek and Latin texts with English translations on the opposite page and brief biographical prefaces. The series takes its name from Mr. James Loeb, originator of the idea, […]'. The page gives details of the plan, and p.15 carries a 'List of the First Twenty Volumes, 'Ready in September' and 'Ready in November'.

[First World War commemoration.] Printed pamphlet with fold-out plan: 'The Empire's War Memorial and a Project for a British Imperial University of Commerce by Ernest H. Taylor and J. B. Black, M.A., B.A.'

Author: 
Ernest H. Taylor; J. B. Black [Isambard Owen, W. H. Hadow, H. F. Wilson, Angus Watson, T. J. Lennard, A. K. Wright] ['The Empire's War Memorial'; First World War commemoration]
Publication details: 
Edinburgh: Macniven & Wallace, 138 Princes Street, 1920.
£56.00

56pp, 8vo. With fold-out 'Chart indicating the suggested arrangement of buildings etc:' at rear, 29.5 x 53.5 cm. In grey printed wraps. Internally in good condition, lightly aged, in worn and torn wraps which are becoming detached. With label, stamp and shelfmarks of the Board of Education Reference Library. Black's preface (pp.5-6) begins by explaining that 'The ideas embodied in the following pages are the product of some eight months incarceration in Germany.

[Josiah Wood Whymper, Suffolk artist and wood-engraver.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. W. Whimper'), giving detailed instructions to a book illustrator, with reference to Sir John Gilbert and 'Hardings book'.

Author: 
J. W. Whymper [Josiah Wood Whymper, also Whimper] (1813-1903), Suffolk artist, wood-engraver, book illustrator and watercolourist in natural history and landscape [Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897), artist
Publication details: 
'Saty Evng.' [No date or place.]
£80.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded three times. The recipient is not named, but is clearly a book illustrator, and the letter provides an interesting view of the practices of book illustrators and engravers in Victorian London. Whymper begins by stating that he is sorry to have missed his 'Call', and to have been 'equally unfortunate this afternoon', when he left at his house 'Two pieces of wood & a little book I want you (if convent [sic]) to make me a Front[ispiece]. for by Thursday Morng.

Broadside announcing the execution of King Louis XVI of France, 1792, titled: 'Trial, Defence, Sentence, and MASSACRE of the KING of France, […] as communicated by a Member of the late National Assembly to a Member of the British Parliament.'

Author: 
Execution of King Louis XVI of France, 1792; W. Gye, Bath stationer; Champante & Co., London stationers; broadside
Publication details: 
'BATH: Printed and Sold by W. GYE, Stationer, Market-Place; to be had of all the Booksellers; and of CHAMPANTE & Co. Stationers, London. - PRICE FOUR-PENCE.'
£4,500.00

A rare and unusual item, distributed as news of the execution broke, no other copy of which has been traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC. Printed on one side of a 59 x 48.5 cm piece of watermarked laid paper. In four columns of small print, surrounded by a thick-thin ruled border. Engraving (13.5 x 14.5 cm) of the moment of execution by guillotine at head of the central two columns. Aged and worn, with small drops of ink spattering, but with the text entirely legible and the engraving practically unmarked. Folded four times.

[William Bedell Stanford, Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College Dublin.] Typed Poem titled 'Undertone' (first line: 'When the landfolk of Galway converse with a stranger,'), with Autograph Signature 'W B. Stanford | Trinity College | Dublin'.

Author: 
W. B. Stanford [William Bedell Stanford] (1910-1984), Irish classical scholar and Senator, Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College Dublin, 1940-1980; Chancellor of the University, 1982-1984
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£180.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, with slight creasing to extremities, on a leaf of 'Onion Skin' paper. A sixteen line poem in three stanzas, beneath which is written, boldly and in pencil: 'W B. Stanford | Trinity College | Dublin'. The poem is one of Stanford's best and best-known, and features in Donagh MacDonagh's 'Poems from Ireland' (1944) and Brendan Kennelly's 'Penguin Book of Irish Verse' (1970). The present version exhibits no variations from the text printed by Kennelly.

[Monk Gibbon, 'The Grand Old Man of Irish Letters'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Monk Gibbon'), to 'Prof Brunbaugh', regarding 'a copy of a short poem' he has made for her, and the reason for his 'rudeness' in replying to his letter late.

Author: 
Monk Gibbon [William Monk Gibbon] (1896-1987), Irish poet and prolific author, dubbed 'The Grand Old Man of Irish Letters', second-cousin of William Butler Yeats
Publication details: 
24 Sandycove Road, Sandycove, Co. Dublin. 10 November 1970.
£50.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-creased grey paper. Addressed to 'Dear Prof Brunbaugh'. He explains that Brunbaugh's letter of 19 September 'went into a large collective envelope marked “For attention”', adding 'You can guess what that means. It is lucky ever to have come out.' He has 'made a copy of a short poem' for Brunbaugh, and hopes that he will go and see him when he next comes to Ireland.

[Walter Starkie, Irish author, Hispanic and Romany scholar.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to Christopher Fry regarding Spanish translation, W. B. Yeats and Abbey Theatre; with five letters from Geoffrey Cumberlege of OUP, two from G. W. S. Hopkins.

Author: 
Walter Starkie (1894-1976), Irish author, Hispanic and Romany scholar; Geoffrey Cumberlege (1891–1979); Gerard Walter Sturgis Hopkins (1892-1961) [Christopher Fry (1907-2005); Oxford University Press]
Publication details: 
All items dating from 1955. Two of Starkie's three letters from Madrid, the other on letterhead of the Athenaeum, London. Seven letters on letterheads of the Oxford University Press, London.
£500.00

Fourteen items, including three letters from Starkie and seven letters from the Oxford University Press – five of them from Geoffrey Cumberlege and two from G. W. S. Hopkins – and copies of two letters from Cumberlege to Fry's agent Emanuel Wax, and a copy of a letter from the OUP to Starkie. All dating from 1955. The collection is in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The three Starkie letters are all in autograph, and total 7pp. The first two are written from Madrid, and the last from the Athenaeum in Pall Mall.

[W. H. Davies, Welsh poet, author of 'Autobiography of a Super-Tramp'.] Four Typed Letters Signed, encouraging the writing of 'Mr Harris', i.e. Christopher Fry. With Fry's copy of Davies's 'Ambition and Other Poems' and poem in Fry's autograph.

Author: 
W. H. Davies [William Henry Davies] (1871-1940), Welsh poet and author of 'Autobiography of a Super-Tramp' [Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright]
Publication details: 
The first two letters on letterhead of Malpas House, Oxted; the last on letterhead of The Crofts, Nailsworth, the third from Shenstone, Nailsworth. Between 23 March 1928 and 16 May 1935. Book: London: Jonathan Cape, 1929.
£850.00

The letters are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, except for the third, which is damp-stained with closed tears at head and foot. The book is in fair condition, without dust wrapper. All four letters are signed 'W. H. Davies.' The first three are addressed to 'Mr Harris', and the last (an ANS rather than an ALS) to 'Mr Fry'. Each is 1p, 12mo. Letter One: 23 March 1928; Malpas House, Oxted. After reading his poem, Davies states, 'I begin to think you ought to take some step towards publishing, as soon as you have enough material.

[W. H. Auden on Louis Macneice, one of 250 copies.| A Memorial Address by W. H. Auden | delivered at All Souls, Langham Place on 17 October, 1963.

Author: 
W. H. Auden [Louis Macneice]
Publication details: 
[One of 250 copies.] 'Privately printed for Faber and Faber, London' [1963].
£50.00

[12]pp, 8vo. Paginated to 14, but twelve pages on six leaves, comprising half-title, title and eight pages of text. Sewn into raspberry printed wraps. Title with engraving of the church, duplicated on front cover. Internally in fair condition, with slight creasing, but with blue ink (or wine?) stain at foot of outer edge of front cover. Bloomfield & Mendelson A46, which states that the edition was printed in November 1963 and limited to 250 copies, 'sent out to a number of personal friends whose names were mainly suggested by Mrs. MacNeice'. In this case, from the library of Christopher Fry.

[William Gorman Wills, Irish dramatist, novelist and painter.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W G Wills') to 'Chepmell' [i.e. the society homeopathist Edward Charles Chepmell], expressing thanks for 'the cure you accomplished'.

Author: 
W. G. Wills [William Gorman Wills], Irish dramatist, novelist and painter [Edward Charles Chepmell (1820-1885), society homeopathist]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Garrick Club [London]. No date.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition. He has 'from week to week been purposing a visit to you to express my gratitude & sincere thanks for your kindness to me & the cure you accomplished'. He can only write his thanks, having been overwhelmed by 'the arrears of work that followed my illness', and leaving for Paris the following day.

[William Henry Corfield, Victorian pioneer in the field of hygiene and public health.] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'Miss Armstrong' [daughter of Professor G. F. Armstrong], regarding his 'course of Lectures on Hygiene to Ladies'

Author: 
W. H. Corfield [William Henry Corfield] (1843-1903), Professor of Hygiene and Public Health, University College London [George Frederick Armstrong (1842-1900), Professor of Engineering, Ediinburgh]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 10 Bolton Row, Mayfair, W. [London] 12 September 1879.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. Begins: 'Prof. Corfield presents his compliments to Miss Armstrong and begs to inform her that his Course of Lectures on Hygiene to Ladies will commence on Thursday Octr. 2nd at University College, London, and will be illustrated by specimens &c from the Parkes Museum.' He would forward a syllabus if he had one, and suggests that she apply to the college secretary 'for a copy of the Prospectus of the Faculties of Science'.

[William Walrond Jackson, Rector of Exeter College, Oxford.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Professor George Frederick Armstrong], explaining the reasons for declining his application for a 'Professorial Fellowship' at Exeter College.

Author: 
W. W. Jackson [William Walrond Jackson] (1838-1931), Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, 1887-1913 [George Frederick Armstrong (1842-1900), Regius Professor of Engineering at Edinburgh University]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Exeter College, Oxford. 24 October 1895.
£35.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged.

Syndicate content